Trick to doing more with less time

We have all heard that the most successful men work smart, not hard. Developed by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto in 1896 following the imbalance of land ownership in Italy, the relationship between consequences and causes can best be described as a law of power distribution between the two, in which a change in one results in a major change in the other. This general truth about the imbalance of inputs and outputs became known as the Pareto’s Principle or the 80/20 rule. 

On a personal or professional level, time management is something many struggle with often. If we were to apply the Pareto’s Principle here, it would say that 80% of work-related outcomes could come from just 20% of time spent at work. The Pareto’s Principle helps you see that most results come from a minority of inputs.

Economically, we know of diminishing marginal utility, related to the law of diminishing returns: each additional hour worked, each additional worker adds less “swing” to the bottom line. You end up spending a lot of time on little things. For example, instead of spending one hour writing an article you’re not sure is needed, spend 10 minutes brainstorming ideas. Then spend the remaining chunk of time writing about the best one.

Most people feel “time-strapped” with too much to do and not enough time. As a professional, it is essential to equip yourself with sufficient time and priority management skills. When you apply the Pareto’s Principle to management, you commit to focusing primarily on the highest priority tasks. The goal behind this exercise is to help you improve management of both your time and tasks as you can focus on the work that gets the best result and deprioritise the less important things. 

These are the various advantages of using the Pareto’s Principle:

The principle aids directly in increasing profits through determining the best performing employees, services, and/or products

It helps you prioritise tasks, iron out any kinks in productivity and redirect your resources to where they are needed most to boost efficiency 

It can be a good indicator of future performance and can be used as an analysis or prediction tool based on the data it provides 

Applying the 80/20 rule to the core tasks essential to any of your projects helps you focus your energy on the vital 20% that will get the most results. This keeps you on the “critical path” and saves time spent on less important tasks.

With this knowledge, you can focus your efforts and those of your team to work smarter and focus on the 20% of work that matters most to your client, task or project and produce 80% of your results.

(The author is the director of a Pune-based management institute)